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Tim Horton Wins

This happened a couple of weeks ago, but I thought I’d mark the occasion on the blog.

Like a ship in the night, Krispy Kreme has surrendered to Tim Horton’s; at least as far as the Kitchener market is concerned. The speed of their departure was remarkable. I paid them a visit not three weeks ago. The parking lot was close to empty, but the store was clean and the machine was still churning out new donuts.

But this market — indeed, most of southern Ontario — has clung to Tim’s in a very big way. Not only are their donuts heartier and their lunches tasty, but they’ve shamelessly cornered the market on Canadian nationalism. Krispy Kreme was probably seen as an American invader, and their donuts and coffee weren’t good enough to overcome this subconscious impression.

It’s a shame that they had to go rather than the beleaguered Coffee Time, whose quality is suspect and the outlets almost uniformly shabby. Kitchener’s Krispy Kreme, despite its dangerous acronym, was anexcellentplacetowrite. The coffee may have been enh and the donuts only good if you got them fresh off the machine, but it was a place where you could concentrate, and had interesting things to look at when you wanted to get your mind straight. You cannot write in Tim Horton’s. The outlets are always loud and busy. Krispy Kreme wasn’t.

And, ultimately, that’s probably what did them in.

Tech for Sale

I now have an Internet router. It’s a decent NETGEAR model that offers both Ethernet and Wireless connections. Other than struggling to find a free space on my plugs, the setup was a dream. And, tip of the hat to Geek News Central, I’ve protected my wireless connection with a password.

I made the change in order to save costs. I have two regular computers connected to a Rogers HiSpeed cable connection via a hub. To give both computers access to the Internet, however, I have to purchase a second IP address. That’s a $10 per month expense. My router cost $50 after rebate, so within five months, the change will have paid for itself.

But now I have an Ethernet hub that’s just sitting around, collecting dust. I don’t want to add it to the landfill, so what am I to do with it? It works well. When I bought it in 1999, it cost me around $80. I think I could be convinced to part with it for $5 plus shipping. Anybody interested? E-mail me.

I also have some ThinkPad RAM and other small pieces of computer equipment. Anybody interested?

I Have My Blogography Swag

I was going to e-mail Dave at Blogography that I received his package, but then I thought, why not make the announcement here and also promote his website.

Dave’s blog celebrated its second birthday a few weeks ago and Dave marked the occasion in style, going so far as to hold draws for boxes of loot. I entered and received a wonderful package of Red Dwarf DVDs, videos and books. There was an excellent graphic novel reprint of classic superhero comics — which turned into an excellent birthday present for my good friend Dan (who loves it), but most of all, the package included Dave’s most excellent Blogography T-shirt. I took a picture of myself wearing it.

My camera didn’t focus on the image pretty well. For those who can’t make out the image on the T-shirt, here it is on your right.

Blogography is an excellent read. Somewhat a-political, but always well argued; eclectic and personal; at times cynical and optimistic, filled with Dave’s cool cartoons of himself, it’s a diverse and varied interpretation of a rather diverse and varied mind, and it’s always interesting. I like to visit when I want to step away from the debates, and yet Dave isn’t afraid to share his opinion on just about anything. It’s a respite from hot-headed commentary, but Dave isn’t afraid to be angry. It’s hard to describe what makes Dave’s blog work so well, but I think it comes down to the fact that Dave strikes me as a deeply cool individual, and I’m privileged to be given a window into his world.